


House of Love

by Katieb161



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dating, Falling In Love, Reality TV, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-13 20:49:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21003962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katieb161/pseuds/Katieb161
Summary: Iris West is a famous musician whose career is on the downswing, she reluctantly agrees to go on a dating show to help make her relevant again.





	House of Love

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back...I know that I still have an unfinished fic out there and I promise I haven't abandoned it, but I have been sitting on this for about a year and decided to post and see if this is something people would be interested in reading. Please let me know if I should continue.I'm also not sure about the title so that may change if I continue.
> 
> As always...enjoy!

Iris couldn't believe that she agreed to do this. Her career had been on a downswing. She hadn't had a hit in a few years and there were whispers of her being a has been going around the industry. Her agent Linda assured her that it would be a good idea, it would help make her relevant again.

"Reality TV though? And it's a dating show? It's going to make me look desperate."

"Iris, you are desperate."

Iris rolled her eyes at Linda. She had booked her to do a bachelor type dating show. Iris only agreed to do it because she was working on a new album and needed all the publicity that she could get. Finding love was the last thing on her mind. She had been in a few relationships, but none of them ever felt real. She had decided to put all of her focus into the music instead.

"Look, nobody is saying you have to get married. Heck, once the cameras stop rolling, you can forget about the guy you choose. Just think about how this will help your career."

"Well, I don't really have a choice now do I, I am already contractually obligated."

"That's the spirit. Now, they have 10 guys set up for you to date. The show will only last 5 weeks, and after that, you can go back to your spinster lifestyle."

There was no way that Iris was going to fall in love in 5 weeks. She resigned herself to her fate. "5 weeks, I can do that."

The first day of filming was set to begin. Iris was set to met the contestants at a mixer the producers had set up. Being on camera wasn't new to her, she was a famous singer, that part would be easy. The hard part was going to be acting like she was even a little bit interested in doing this. She wasn't an actor, so this would be a big test for her.

Dressed in a floor length red ball gown, she made her way into the room where the mixer was going to be held. She was greeted by the host of the show HR Wells. "Welcome Iris. It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person. Are you ready to get started?"

"As I'll ever be."

"Excellent." HR turned to the room of men and got started. "Welcome all to the show House of Love. I am your host HR Wells. I am proud to introduce you all to the lovely and talented Iris West. During the next 5 weeks, you men will be competing to win her heart. Tonight two of you will be eliminated."

The contestants all looked around the room at each other, trying to figure out who would likely be leaving tonight. HR continued, "Now, you will all get a chance to meet with Iris. At the end of the mixer, she will choose two people to get some one on one time with. After that, there will be an elimination." He turned to Iris, "Ms. West, the room awaits you."

"Thank you HR." The host gave her a gentle pat on the back and left the room. Iris looked around at all of the men. She was impressed. The producers did a good job with picking out good looking men for her to date. She started to think that maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

She made her way over to the bar and was approached by a tall, dark and handsome man. "Hi, I'm Scott, it is my pleasure to meet you." He took her hand and kissed it.

"Scott, it's nice to meet you. So what do you do?"

"I am an editor at Central City Picture News."

"Wow, if I hadn't gone into the music industry, I definitely would have done journalism."

"You have a way with words, I mean I know you write all your songs."

"This is true. I feel like words are the window to your soul, ya know?"

"Yeah I know what you mean."

Iris was already starting to enjoy this experience. Scott seemed like a nice guy and he was nice to look at. During their conversation, someone came up to interrupt.

"You look stunning tonight Iris."

She turned to see a good looking guy with blonde hair and blue eyes, "I'm Eddie," he held out his hand to shake hers. She found out that he was a detective and also lived in Central City.

She spent the rest of the mixer mingling with all of the contestants. In addition to Scott and Eddie, she met Oliver, Cisco, James, Nate, Hunter, Digg, Ray and Barry. All of the guys seemed really nice so far. She had no idea who she was going to eliminate at the end of the evening. It was time for her to choose the two guys she wanted to have one on one time with.

HR came out and gathered the contestants. "Okay Iris, who have you decided to spend more time with tonight?"

Iris looked around the room. "I really enjoyed talking with Scott, so I would like to spend some time with him." Scott was visibly happy, doing a little victory dance.  
"I would also like to spend some time with Barry." Iris looked over at him. Barry looked dumbfounded, like he couldn't believe that she would want to spend time with him. "We really didn't get a chance to talk during the mixer and I want to get to know a little more about you." She smiled.

The three of them were led into the parlor. There was a tray set out with champagne and various fruits and cheeses. Scott immediately took charge, grabbing the bottle and popping the cork. He poured Iris and himself a glass, completely ignoring the fact that Barry was in the room. Barry not feeling very confident, took a few steps back and ended up on the sofa.

He watched as Scott was entertaining Iris with a lively conversation about journalism. Barry knew he couldn't compete with that. He was just a nerd who watched science fiction tv shows and mixed chemicals all day. He wasn't even sure what he was doing here. He was convinced by his friend Felicity to send in a tape. He never thought they would actually choose him to come on the show. And to compete for the affections of the Iris West. There was no way he could win.

Iris was enjoying her time with Scott, but she had chosen Barry for a reason. She excused herself and made her way over to the sofa and sat next to him. "You're awfully quiet," she nudged his knee with hers."

"I didn't want to interrupt," he shyly looked up at her.

She smiled at him, "I wouldn't have minded. So tell me about you Barry. Where are you from, what do you do?" She looked into his eyes. She hadn't noticed the gold flecks in his eyes before. She thought he was cute and liked how tall he was. His hair was tousled just like a models, though she suspected that it wasn't done purposely. She just wished he was a little more confident.

"Well, I work as a CSI for the Central City PD."

"A CSI, that seems like an interesting job. What made you decide to get into that?"

He looked up at her with sad eyes, "When I was a child, my mother was murdered."

"Oh Barry," Iris put her hand over his, "I'm so sorry."

"It was a long time ago," he took a chance and placed his other hand over hers. They both looked at each other for a moment, gazing into each others eyes. Their eye contact was broken when HR came into the room and announced that their time was over. He led the guys out of the room and told Iris that she would now have to eliminate two gentlemen. She would have an hour to make her decision.

When the hour passed, all of the contestants were lined up in front of the staircase awaiting Iris' arrival. She had changed into a different, blue ball gown. As she descended the stairs, she took sight of all of the contestants, feeling bad that two of them had to leave.

When she got down to the bottom, HR explained, "Okay, Iris will now eliminate two of you," he turned to her, "Iris, whenever you are ready."

Iris looked around the room, "I really enjoyed meeting all of you. It is hard to make an elimination so early in the game, I haven't gotten a chance to really get to know any of you." She looked towards the first person she was going to eliminate, "Ray, you seem like a nice guy, but I didn't really feel a connection between us. I'm sorry."

"I'm glad I got a chance to meet you," Ray walked up to her, shook her hand and walked out of the front door.

"The next person who I have to eliminate tonight is Hunter." Hunter walked up to Iris and kissed her hand before walking out of the door.

HR came and stood next to Iris. "I know that was tough, but it will only get tougher. Gentlemen, the rest of you are safe. Get some rest tonight." HR dismissed the contestants.

Iris was happy when the cameras stopped rolling. She just wanted to put on her sweats, take off her make up and put her hair in a bun. She got back to her room and got comfortable. It was late and they had been filming all day. Between the actual time spent with the guys, the time with HR and the solo interviews, she was absolutely exhausted. That's why she was confused when she still awake at 3 am.

She decided to get up and go to the piano. Whenever she couldn't sleep, tickling the ivory's always seemed to help. She sneaked downstairs into the parlor and was surprised to see that someone was already in there. Sitting at the piano was Barry. He was playing a tune she didn't recognize, but it was beautiful. She stood at the door, just listening, in awe of his talent. She had no idea he could play. It was another thing that intrigued her about him. For the first time, she was actually glad she agreed to do this.

Barry looked up from the piano and saw Iris watching him. He immediately became embarrassed and stopped playing. "Please, don't stop," she told him, walking over and sitting on the bench next to him," I've never heard that tune before."

"That's because I wrote it," he told her too scared to look in her eyes.

"It was beautiful, can you play it again?" she asked him.

He finally looked up into her eyes and smiled. He placed his fingers on the keys and began to play again. Iris closed her eyes and hummed a melody to the music. Barry watched her as he played. He thought she was more beautiful in that moment than she was when he first saw her that day. She wasn't wearing a stick of make up and her hair was pulled away from her face. He was able to see the real her and it felt more unattainable than the celebrity her.

He finished playing and she finally opened her eyes. "Thank you Barry." She smiled at him again and stood up making her way back up to her room. Before she reached the door, she turned back to him, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

**Author's Note:**

> You can also leave comments or suggestions on my tumblr @katieb161


End file.
